JPH10124492A - Method for selecting document in system for preparing document - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To visually retrieve a document without depending on a document name by using the print image of a document as an icon for a document selection screen. SOLUTION: The print image of a document is used as an icon for a document selection screen. In this case, this system is provided with a means which reflects the size and direction of a printing sheet on the image, applies an image overlapped according to the number of pages of the document, and displays the main format information of the document as a picture. For example, document icons 1-5 or envelope icons 10 and 11 are second-dimensionally arranged on the document list screen of a document retrieving system, and names are added under the icons 1, 3-5, 10 and 11. The presence of a document icon 2 to which a name is not added is permitted. Each icon 1-5, 10 and 11 are freely moved by a pointing device such as a mouse. When a screen element 30 is selected, a document or an envelope is newly prepared.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a screen display method for selecting a document in a document creation system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A document search system employed in a conventional document creation system such as a word processor mainly searches for a target document based on a name added at the time of storage. In other words, when a function such as updating a document is executed, a list of document names is displayed, and the user infers the contents of the document from the document name and selects it.
In such a system, if a list of documents is displayed one-dimensionally, it cannot be organized and there is not enough information for estimating the contents. Therefore, directory information can be provided so that the documents can be classified according to the contents of the documents. is there. However, a list of document names consisting only of characters is difficult to distinguish visually, and is inferior in operability.

An interface having a visual effect is a window system. This symbolizes various data including a document into small image data called an icon, and arranges them on a two-dimensional screen. The selection of data is performed by a pointing device such as a mouse, and the display position of the icon can be freely changed. However, in the conventional window system, the image data of the icon only indicates the type of data. For example, when the data is a document, the image data does not have information that can infer the contents of the document.

[0004]

In the prior art document selection method, there is no information other than the name for knowing the contents. Therefore, when document data is stored, it is required to give a name, but this may be a factor that places a burden on the user. In addition, since a user sees a document name or an icon having image data unrelated to the document itself and cannot directly recognize that the document is the target document, it can be a barrier for beginners. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable a document to be visually searched without relying on a name.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a print image of a document is used as an icon on a document selection screen, and at this time, the size and orientation of the printing paper are reflected on the image, and A configuration is provided in which a superimposed image is provided in accordance with the number of pages and a main format information of the document is displayed as an image.

Further, the display position of the icon can be moved by the user so that the position of the icon other than the newly created icon is not changed by the system. By changing the color or shape, or by adding an identification mark, the icon can be distinguished from the icon set by the user. This is a means for emphasizing the display position as an element for estimating the contents of the document. For example, if the user sets rules such as placing a temporary document on the left and important documents on the right, The display position is a source of information for estimating the contents. The reason why the icon set by the system with the identification mark set is distinguished from the icon set by the user is to prevent the position information from being confused.

Further, the concept of an envelope is introduced as a means for organizing document data, and is displayed as an envelope icon on a screen, and when a document data icon or another envelope icon is moved thereon, it is stored in the envelope. When you select the means and the envelope, the screen is switched to the screen of the list of documents stored in the envelope. When displaying the inside of the envelope, the background color is changed. The inner envelope (such as the inner envelope in the middle) is provided with means for darkening its brightness. This allows documents to be organized in a hierarchical structure, and the background color becomes darker when displaying inside an envelope, so it is easy to see that it is a list of documents in the envelope. You can know.

[0008]

FIG. 1 shows a document list screen of the present document search system. Document icons 1 to 5 and envelope icons 10 and 11 are two-dimensionally arranged on the screen, and a name 20 is given below the icon. An unnamed one such as the document icon 1 is also allowed to exist.
Each icon can be freely moved by a pointing device such as a mouse. When the screen element 30 is selected, a document or an envelope is newly created. The screen element 31 is for scrolling the screen to display a part that cannot be accommodated on the screen.

Document / envelope information is stored in directory information as shown in FIG. In the case of document information, a document name 210, an identifier 211 indicating that the document is a document,
Position information 212 indicating where the document data 216 is stored on the recording medium, position information 213 indicating where the document image data 217 is stored on the recording medium, position information 21 on the screen displaying the document image icon
4, and a flag 215 indicating whether the display position is determined by the user or by the system. In the case of envelope information, the envelope name 220, an identifier 221 indicating that the envelope is an envelope, position information 222 indicating where the directory information data 226 of the envelope is stored on the recording medium, and where the envelope image data is stored on the recording medium. The position information 223 indicates whether the image is stored, the position information 224 on the screen displaying the envelope image icon, and a flag 225 indicating whether the display position is determined by the user or the system.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show flowcharts of the document list operation. Hereinafter, the flow of the operation will be described with reference to this flowchart and the explanatory diagrams of FIGS. 1, 4, and 5.

When this document retrieval system is started, it first obtains directory information 200 storing information on documents and envelopes having the structure shown in FIG. 4 from a recording medium (step 10).
0), the information is passed to the document list process (process 101).

In the document list process, a menu including a "new" function 30 for newly generating a document or an envelope and other necessary elements are displayed (process 102), and the document data icon 1 is displayed based on the passed directory information. 5 and the envelope icons 10 and 11 are displayed at the designated positions (step 103).

Next, it is checked whether the currently displayed document list is inside the envelope (step 104). If it is inside the envelope, the background color is changed according to the depth of the envelope hierarchy as shown in FIG. To change the brightness (step 105). In addition, an "exit from envelope" function 300 is added to the menu (process 10).
6).

Next, the process waits for an input from the user (process 10).
7). If the instruction input by the user is the selection of the "get out of envelope" function, the current document list process is terminated (process 108a).

If the instruction input by the user is to select a document data icon, the document data is edited (process 120). When the editing is completed, a print image is generated from the document data, stored in a recording medium together with the document data, and the document data icon in the document list is updated with the new image (process 121). The icon is given an image that is overlapped by the number of pages as shown by the document icon 2. Further, the display size of the image is made to be proportional to the size of the printing paper like the document icons 3 and 4, or the paper orientation is reflected in the display method like the document icon 5.

If the instruction input by the user is to select an envelope icon, the directory information held by the envelope is acquired (process 130), and the document list process is called (process 131). As a result, the document list process is called recursively, so all the internal information must be saved.

If the instruction input by the user is to newly create document data or an envelope, the user is prompted to input the name of the document or envelope (step 140). You can also enter an empty entry at this time, in which case no name will be given. Next, the initial display position of the icon is automatically determined (process 141), and the color is set to a color indicating that the icon is an icon for automatic position determination (process 142). Then, for document data, a blank image reflecting the size and orientation of the printing paper is displayed as an icon, and for envelopes, the image of the envelope is displayed as an icon (processing 14).
3).

If the instruction input by the user is a movement of the document data icon or the envelope icon, it is checked what was the factor of the position determination before the icon was moved (process 150). If the original position was determined automatically, set the color to indicate that the position has been determined by the user
(Process 151). If the destination is on an envelope, the document or envelope is loaded into the directory structure of the envelope (process 153). At this time, the display position of the icon in the envelope is determined (process 154), and the color of the icon is set to the one indicating that it is an icon for automatic position determination (process 155).

[0019]

By using the print image of the document as an icon on the document selection screen, the contents of the document can be easily grasped. For beginners, selecting an image instead of an abstract document name makes it more familiar.

By allowing the user to move the display position of an icon and by keeping the position of the icon other than the newly created icon unchanged by the system, the display position of the icon can be used as search information. it can. Icons that are automatically located by the system can be changed in color or shape, or can be distinguished from icons located by the user by adding identification marks to prevent confusion of this information. it can.

By preparing an envelope as a means for organizing the document data, the document can be stored in a hierarchical structure. The contents of the envelope are a list of document data icons and envelope icons with specific images, and images close to those that exist in the real world are displayed as the contents of the envelope, making it easy to grasp the concept of storing them. . Also, since the envelope can be stored in the envelope, a hierarchical document data storage structure is formed.However, when displaying the inside of the envelope, the background color is changed, and the envelope of the deep hierarchy (the inside of the envelope) is displayed. By darkening the lightness of the inner envelope (such as the envelope inside the envelope), you can visually know where you are looking at the hierarchy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a document list screen of the document search system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the operation of the document search system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the document search system.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of directory information.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a list of documents in an envelope.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... document icon, 10, 11 ... envelope icon.

Claims (11)

[Claims] When storing document data during or after editing on a recording medium, print image data of an arbitrary page is created from the document data, and the print image data is stored together with the document data. A document selection method in a document creation system, wherein the image is sometimes displayed on a document selection screen. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the size and orientation of the printing paper are reflected in the image of the document. 3. The document selecting method according to claim 1, wherein the document creating system adds an overlapped image according to the number of pages of the document. 4. A means for grouping and organizing document data, a means for displaying a group of grouped documents symbolically by an envelope icon on a document selection screen, a means for displaying a document data icon having a print image, A document selection method in a document creation system, wherein when another envelope icon is moved over the envelope icon, the envelope icon is stored in a document group symbolized by the envelope icon. 5. A document selection method according to claim 4, wherein, when selected, a document selection screen including a document data icon and an envelope icon stored in the envelope is displayed, and the background color is changed. 6. The document selection method according to claim 5, wherein the change in the background color is a change in lightness according to the depth of the envelope hierarchy. 7. When a document image icon or envelope icon is added to a document selection screen, the document image icon or envelope icon has a function of automatically determining its initial position, and the position of the automatically determined document image icon can be changed by the user. A document selection method in a document creation system having means that can be distinguished from icons. 8. The document selection method according to claim 7, wherein the color of the automatically positioned document image icon is changed. 9. The document selection method according to claim 7, wherein the shape of the automatically positioned document image icon is changed. 10. The document selection method according to claim 7, wherein an identification mark is added to the automatically positioned document image icon. 11. A document selection method in a document creation system in which registration of a name of a document or an envelope is arbitrarily performed by a user and the name is treated as a mere visual identification mark.